Coaches Placed on Probation

Highland Park boys basketball head coach David Piehler and assistant coach Travis Snowden were placed on one-year probation on Monday by the University Interscholastic League for violation of its Sunday prohibition rule.

Piehler was also issued a public reprimand for the violation, according to a UIL press release.

The Scots (7-4) play host to Southlake Carroll at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

By Chuck Cox Dec. 13, 2010 | 3:00 pm | 30 Comments | Comments RSS
30 comments to "Coaches Placed on Probation"
  1. Supporter @ December 13, 2010 at 8:04 pm
    Would you please explain what rule they broke?

    I am a huge fan of Coach Snowden and believe him to be a very honest and upright individual. I have known his family for over 20 years and simply can’t believe he knowingly violated any rule.

  2. Supporter @ December 13, 2010 at 8:05 pm
    Would you please explain what rule they broke?

    I am a huge fan of Coach Snowden and believe him to be a very honest and upright individual. I have known his family for over 20 years and simply can’t believe he knowingly violated any rule.

    To clarify – I don’t know what Sunday prohibition rule is.

  3. LHG @ December 13, 2010 at 8:23 pm
    What is the Sunday prohibition rule?

  4. bbfan @ December 13, 2010 at 10:00 pm
    Well, what does that mean exactly? Will they still be coaching? When was the violation? Seems pretty serious…

  5. B @ December 13, 2010 at 10:51 pm
    Was the violation that they practiced on Sunday, or something else?
    What does a one-year probation mean?

  6. Avid Reader @ December 14, 2010 at 8:11 am
    What’s the “Sunday prohibition” rule?

  7. Gringo Bling @ December 14, 2010 at 9:12 am
    This story lacks significant details.

  8. joeat @ December 14, 2010 at 10:24 am
    What did these coaches supposedly do that broke the Sunday prohibition rule?? I can’t believe you just report their guilt without telling what they did to be guilty.

  9. Unhappy Player or Parent @ December 14, 2010 at 11:15 am
    What it probably means is that the coaches were making players show up for practice or meetings on Sunday and some disgruntled player or parent turned the coaches in to the UIL. I am sure that the coaches didn’t turn themselves in.

  10. hpmom @ December 14, 2010 at 11:19 am
    As I understand it from the DMN article about this, the UIL rule prohibits coaches from holding practices, teaching plays, etc (can’t recall the exact scope but the rule is specific). I assume that Piehler got the harsher penalty since he is the head coach. The article didn’t specify when (or how often) the coaches violated the rule.

  11. jameshpbasketball @ December 14, 2010 at 11:20 am
    Why does HP tolerate this behavior? This has been out there for almost 1 year. How can the district not make a coaching change? Everyone knows you can’t practice on Sunday

  12. Chuck Cox @ December 14, 2010 at 11:43 am
    The information on this blog post was based on what I had at the time, which wasn’t very much.
    The UIL rule states that schools can’t “participate in any athletic contest or conduct and practice or teach any plays, formations or skills on Sunday.”
    We’ll have a full story, with comment from Piehler, in this week’s paper.

  13. D @ December 14, 2010 at 1:20 pm
    @jameshpbasketball,

    Seriously? If you’ve lived in this town for any amount of time, you’d realize that not only does this town tolerate this behaviour, they encourage it.

    Just go to the park (any one) on any weekend morning, and watch kids of every age with their private coaches, and you’ll get the point.

  14. Pulitzer @ December 14, 2010 at 3:59 pm
    This is journalism?

  15. bbfan @ December 14, 2010 at 8:13 pm
    We need Merritt on this. Sorry Chuck, she would do better with this one.

  16. Kim @ December 14, 2010 at 8:53 pm
    Any coach/sponsor knows that rule. He knowingly violated it and therefore deserves the probation.

  17. hpgirlsbball @ December 14, 2010 at 9:16 pm
    is that double secret probation?

  18. Neal @ December 14, 2010 at 11:14 pm
    “The information on this blog post was based on what I had at the time, which wasn’t very much.
    The UIL rule states that schools can’t “participate in any athletic contest or conduct and practice or teach any plays, formations or skills on Sunday.”
    We’ll have a full story, with comment from Piehler, in this week’s paper.”

    If you want to use this blog to tease a story in the next print edition, that’s fine. But this one has the air of a Fox 4 promo: “Why were these Highland Park coaches put on probation?? Fox 4 found out why, and you’ll have to see to believe! Tomorrow morning on Good Day!”

  19. Supporter @ December 15, 2010 at 5:48 am
    I agree with “Mom of Boys”. It must be very difficult to be a teacher or coach in this district. I am thankful for the many who do such a fabulous job.

  20. anon @ December 15, 2010 at 7:33 am
    I admit I need to go read the Moring News article for facts, but my high school mole says the violation was over winter break last year; the UIL’s Sunday rule is of relatively recent origin (several years?) imposed because football coaches were practicing all weekend; the reprimand and probation are inconsequential; and both coaches are respected by their teams, i.e., not a band director type problem.

  21. Janie @ December 15, 2010 at 8:20 am
    I don’t remember an HP coach ever being put on probation. And I take it that a public reprimand is even worse that probation. Is this unprecedented?

  22. B @ December 15, 2010 at 9:28 am
    It appears that the violation was over a year ago and the rule was relatively new at the time. Additional facts/more complete information would have been very helpful in the original post. I agree with ‘Neal’ – seems this post is primarily used to increase paper sales, not give good info. Too bad it’s at the expense of the coaches. Both are highly respected and liked by students and players.

  23. hpmom @ December 15, 2010 at 9:29 am
    To my knowledge, it is unprecedented for an HP coach to receive probation/reprimand from UIL. As to anon’s comment that both coaches are respected, from what I hear thru the grapevine, that is definitely the case with Travis Snowden. Not so sure that its true of Piehler anymore. I wonder if the UIL action will be enough (when added to the rest of Piehler’s negatives -including a pretty mediocre record) will be the beginning of the end for him at HP.

  24. HPHS Parent @ December 15, 2010 at 9:38 am
    Of course this blog is used as a teaser for the Park Cities People print product!

  25. Rico @ December 15, 2010 at 11:21 am
    The rule was adopted in 1976, modified in the late 1980s and again in 1995. Of “relatively recent origin”" or “relatively new”? Not unless by relative you mean as compared to, say, the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

    To those complaining of the lack of detail: this is a blog. It’s not an online version of PCP. Cox told you what he knew, and his post was factual.

  26. bballfanguy @ December 15, 2010 at 1:15 pm
    Its hard to imagine that a HS Varsity Coach would not know the rule. All the players know. Isn’t Coach Piehler the Asst. AD?

  27. Georgia Fisher @ December 15, 2010 at 3:47 pm
    Yikes. I’m biased, here (Chuck is my coworker, and a great one), but I honestly don’t think he’s amiss in writing the post above. Brief, sure — but that’s the nature of a fast-turnaround news cycle and a publication that doesn’t post all its content to the Web.
    Blogs are conversational, for starters. They don’t adhere to AP style. And many omit the sourcing and elaboration you’ll find in regular papers, because facts are still incoming.
    As far as promoting our print content via a blog site? That’s business as usual — and no secret:)

  28. hpbballfan @ December 15, 2010 at 6:50 pm
    If Piehler and Snowden knew about the Sunday rule and then violated the rule, they should be fired. If they are claiming they didn’t know about the rule (because they were too lazy to take the time to understand the rules governing the competition in which their team participates), they should be fired. HPISD is too good to settle for an employee, who knowingly breaks rules. HPISD is too good to settle for an employee, who demonstrates a poor work ethic. Piehler and Snowden have to be one or the other.

  29. Sharpay @ December 15, 2010 at 10:56 pm
    It takes money to support a free press. Using the blog to promote the paper and generates advertising fees is not a nefarious scheme.

  30. notacoach @ January 5, 2011 at 11:09 am
    Friends, countrymen, fellow Scots, PLEASE come support our mens Basketball program this weekend. Come to the freshman and JV games too. Come see for yourself and contrast to our football program.

    DMN sports columnist Matt Wixon writes of the incredible talent in the Dallas area of young men who are committeed to yearround basketball. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/columnists/mwixon/stories/010411dnspowixoncol.4774bac.html

    “That long drive is district play, which is when the games really mean something. Winning tournament titles certainly meant something for teams such as the DeSoto girls and the boys from Kimball, Flower Mound Marcus, Garland Lakeview and Plano, but it didn’t get them any closer to a playoff spot.

    So now the drive to the playoffs begins. And with most teams playing a dozen or more district games, it does seem like a long trip. But the girls playoffs are only six weeks away and the boys begin a week after that. With two district games each week, there’s little time left for adjustments, and one seven- to 10-day stretch can haunt a team.

    That’s especially true in the state’s major metropolitan areas, where the explosion of year-round select-team basketball has deepened the talent pool. The margin between an elite team and one battling for the playoffs can be pretty slim, and that margin can be razor thin when the best teams meet. ”

    He did not mention HIghland Park, even though we have incredible talent in our basketball ranks of boys who have played yearround with excellent AAU and tournament coaching since 5th grade. We think that we can ignore development and magically win. It starts from the early years and sucessful program needs to build year after year.

    Chuck: come on out and report on it for us!

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